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Canon Inconsistencies
This article lists ' canon inconsistencies' between Life is Strange: Season 1 (created by Dontnod Entertainment) and its prequel Life is Strange: Before the Storm which was created by Deck Nine Games. :See here for the inconsistencies within the prequel itself. Major ' Victoria's Age With ''Before the Storm having Victoria Chase as a sophomore in May 2010, we are faced with the following issues: * The '''August DOB (August 14, 1995) from Life is Strange: Season 1 starts her off as a sophomore only in fall 2010 but then fails to put her as a senior in fall 2013 with Max (Life is Strange: Season 1), as Victoria would have graduated earlier that year in the spring. However, the extended senior year program resolves this! Victoria would be a freshman in Before the Storm in May 2010, not a sophomore as she is written to be. * The November DOB (November 14, 1995) from Life is Strange: Season 1 means she won’t even be attending high school in May 2010 (Before the Storm). It starts her off instead as a freshman in fall 2010 while also eventually situating her in DONTNOD's timeline to graduate the normal senior year in spring 2014 with Max. :There is more evidence in support of the August date of birth being her canon date of birth. Victoria's Presence in General In Life is Strange: Season 1's "Chaos Theory" episode, if Max blamed Mr. Jefferson in the previous episode, Victoria will write the following statement on a social media page in support of him: "The major reason I came to Blackwell was Mark Jefferson." Later, in "Episode 4: Dark Room" (regardless of Max's choices in the game), Victoria will win the Everyday Heroes award, and says the following shortly after coming to the stage: "Thank you so much, Mr. Jefferson. It was your incredible photography that brought me to Blackwell and I hope I can live up to your name... and fame." These are two occasions where Victoria has stated that she only came to Blackwell for Mr. Jefferson, yet the Before the Storm setting is entirely divorced from the Dark Room story arc, and Mr. Jefferson will not be present in the game. Jefferson has not even arrived at Blackwell Academy at this point in time.Confirmed by Chris Floyd (Co-Game Director) at the 27:17 mark during the "Before the Storm - E3 2017 Q&A Stream". Sophomore Issue A public statement made by the Square Enix Life is Strange Community Manager (Toby Palm) gave the following timeline information:Public post made on the Life is Strange (GAME) group on Facebook (7th July 2017): Statement "At the time of our BtS story (May 2010) Max, Chloe and most of the characters we know would be finishing their sophomore year. Here’s a mini timeline with some facts on dates and ages based on LiS1 canon: *'May 2010:' **BtS starts **It is the end of the 2009/2010 school year **Chloe is 16 **Max is 14 **Rachel is 15, going on 16 **Victoria is 14 **Warren is 13 **They are all sophomores *'October 2013:' **LiS Season 01 starts **It is the start of the 2013/2014 school year **Chloe is 19 **Max recently turned 18 **Victoria is 18 **Warren is 16 **Max, Victoria, and Warren are all seniors at Blackwell." The issue with this is that Max and Warren are being considered sophomores in May 2010 (Before the Storm) at whatever high school they are attending. There may be an explanation for Warren (e.g. 'boy genius'), but there is no obvious explanation for Max having advanced two grades. To help explain this: * Max turned 14 in 2009 after the September 1st cutoff date. This means that she wouldn't be starting high school until September the following year (fall 2010). The normal age requirement to start high school as a freshman is age 14 (i.e. turning 14 before the September 1st cutoff). It is currently unknown why Max has advanced two grades in 2010. She has a 2.8 GPA on her 2013 student information sheet, which suggests she is a low B / C / high D student (not an exemplary student). Her GPA is also said to fluctuate and she acknowledged in 2013 that she should be doing better. Blackwell Student Photograph In Chloe's bedroom in Before the Storm's Episode 1, "Awake", there is a student photograph. From left to right is: *'Back row:' Warren Graham, Chloe Price, Hayden Jones, Zachary Riggins, Trevor Yard, Logan Robertson, Alyssa Anderson. *'Middle row:' Justin Williams, Eliot Hampden, Dana Ward, Evan Harris, Stella Hill. *'Front row:' Brooke Scott, Juliet Watson, Victoria Chase, Nathan Prescott, Taylor Christenson, Rachel Amber. The first obvious issue with this is mentioned above in terms of Warren being a sophomore with Chloe, given his much younger age. (See Sophomore Issue.) The second issue is the fact that characters — namely Warren, Justin, Stella and Nathan — are present in the photo with Chloe even though in Life is Strange: Season 1, dialogue (or text messages) between these characters seems to suggest that she did not know them as fellow students or even classmates prior to the Season 1 game's events. Warren During the dialogue that occurs between Max and Warren in Life is Strange: Season 1's Episode 2, "Out of Time", Warren does not appear to know Chloe at all in 2013. Outside the dormitory building in "Out of Time", Warren will say to Max: "Even though you left me with said bully and ran off with that girl... She's pretty punk rock, how do you know her?" Max can respond by saying the full name of the "girl": "An old friend. Chloe Price? We haven't seen each other in a while." Warren will respond to this with: "I bet you were glad to see her blast up in that truck like a rock star. Which begs the question—why is Nathan Prescott getting psycho on you?" There are other dialogue pieces confirming the same impression, for example the text messages Max receives from Warren in Episode 4 if she kissed Chloe but declined Warren's invivation to the drive-in: "Your friend Chloe txtd me that I'm out of the loop now. She sounds hot so I get why." There is absolutely no mention of the fact he knows Chloe from when she was going to Blackwell, her complete change of appearance, or that he's surprised that Max knows her too! There are also a couple of points in Life is Strange: Season 1 where, if Warren knew Chloe from the past, he would have likely opened a dialogue with her about that it's good to see her again or even asking how life is outside Blackwell. Not even Chloe seems to recognize Warren, as she refers to him simply as "your friend" to Max. Justin When Max encounters Justin at the Blackwell Campus in the first episode of Life is Strange: Season 1 ("Chrysalis"), she has the option to talk with him about Rachel and "her punk friend", as Max does not yet know the identity of the blue-haired punk girl that she had saved in the bathroom earlier. This conversation begins by Justin saying: "Rachel Amber and her punk friend used to skate with us / used to love skating with us." Max asks: "Who was Rachel's punk friend?" Justin responds with: "I can't remember her name... But she was hot. Tats. Blue hair. Hardcore. She stopped hanging out with us after Rachel disappeared... or ran away." As we see in Life is Strange: Season 1, Justin refers to Chloe in a very vague way as Rachel's "punk friend" and as though he only knows her second-hand through Rachel. Yet the Before the Storm prequel game puts Justin in the same Blackwell student photograph as Chloe (standing directly in front of her). A few other students we meet in Before the Storm are not featured on this photograph, so it can only be a photograph of students in Chloe's particular grade or a class photo. The actual game asset is labelled TX_Post_ClassPhoto01_D, so this suggests that it is a class photo. This class photo also provides the names of the students underneath. He would have had frequent contact with Chloe as a classmate of just that handful of students. Also in Before the Storm, Chloe interacts with Justin at Blackwell and they seem very familiar with each other. Justin refers to her as both "Chlo-ee" and "Price", so he definitely knows both her first name and surname. Stella Just before Max enters the End of the World Party in Life is Strange: Season 1's Episode 4, she will have a conversation with Stella. Stella will tell Max: "Wait, some girl just asked about Nathan before you came in." Max asks: "What girl?" Stella replies: "She had blue hair, dressed like a punk... I've seen her putting up those Rachel Amber posters." Considering that Before the Storm features Chloe in the same class photo as Stella, and the class photo even features the names of the students, it seems strange that a student she would know as "Chloe Price" or even just "Chloe" (maybe even just as a former classmate) is regarded so vaguely as "some girl". Chloe may have dyed her hair blue, but her facial features are the same. She would surely be recognized by Stella as a former student if they had been classmates. William's Death Date According to Life is Strange: Season 1, William Price died in 2008 when Max was aged 13 (evidenced by the in-game dialogue, "I'm 18 years old inside my 13 year old self... How?", and the journal entry: "Then I found myself actually back in the photo... to when I was 13 years old. I was back in Chloe's kitchen in the year 2008.") The time period of 09/21/2008 to 12/31/2008 is the only period that William could have died, because this is the only time period in 2008 where Max would be 13 years old. However, Before the Storm seems to be implying that William died on 6/21/2008 at 11:57 a.m. from the timestamps on Joyce's texts during Chloe's dream. This day was a Saturday, explaining why Max and Chloe stayed at home that day, but as Max is not 13 years old at this time, this date in Before the Storm is inconsistent with the original game. Joyce and David's Relationship In Before the Storm, it is established that David and Joyce started dating not that long before the game's events that are set in May 2010 (Chloe is 16 years old at this time). It is also implied that David is about to move in to the Price household soon. But in Life is Strange: Season 1, a chronological timestream montage shows that Joyce and David were married before Chloe's 16th birthday. A picture of a married Joyce and David appears prior to an image of Chloe on her 16th birthday in this timestream montage (also see "Chloe's Blue Hair" for further information). Florent-auguy-anniversaire-mariage-joyce-et-david-hd.jpg|Timestream photo of David and Joyce's marriage. Florent-auguy-chloe-et-david-s-engueulent.jpg|Timestream photo of David and Chloe on her 16th birthday. Chloe's Blue Hair During the Reddit AMA it was confirmed that we will get to see Chloe dyeing her hair for the first time, which is also clear from a concept art that shows Chloe in different outfits, one version depicting her with blue bangs. However, in Life is Strange: Season 1, an image that is shown during the timestream montages (which appear when Max changes realities and the old timeline gets overwritten) indicates that Chloe had already been using blue dye in her hair by the time of her 16th birthday, which is inconsistent with 16-year-old Chloe in Before the Storm not having blue bangs yet. When Max saves William and the timeline changes into the alternative timeline, the two following images merge into one another: Florent-auguy-chloe-et-david-s-engueulent.jpg|Timestream photo of David and Chloe on her 16th birthday. Florent-auguy-voiture-offerte-a-chloe-hd.jpg|Timestream photo of Alternative Chloe receiving her own car on her 16th birthday. The left picture from the original timeline shows Chloe already having blue bangs. The picture that replaces this one in the timestream is of Alternative Chloe receiving the car she would later have an accident with. The fact that it's her 16 birthday is confirmed in-game by Alternative Chloe herself. When Max and Chloe are at the beach and talk about the accident, Max has the option to ask "Blame William?"You can see the conversation for this dialogue option here.: "You don't really blame William, do you...?" :And Chloe responds: "For getting me the hybrid I wanted for my' sweet sixteen'?" A Tweet from a Twitter-verified freelance journalist (and fan) to Before the Storm's Co-Game Director, Webb Pickersgill, asked a question on behalf of fans on Reddit: "We're wondering when Chloe got her blue streak? Is this pic from her 16th bday?" The response from the Co-Game Director was: "Obviously, it was some time before David's 9th birthday... judging from the number of candles. ;P". The same fan replied: "Oooh! We've been looking at it wrong. It's stepdouche's birthday! Thanks!", and this reply was Liked by the Co-Game Director.It can be noted that the official Life is Strange Twitter account posted this same image on March 11, 2016 in celebration of Chloe's birthday.If the comment by the Co-Game Director was meant as a joke, no correction has yet been made to the journalist fan's assumption that the picture is of David's birthday. However, a fan later left a correction with explanations on the comment thread. Chloe's Hella In Before the Storm, Chloe's iconic "hella" was established as a "Cali thing" she learned from Rachel Amber. The actual background behind the word however, as intended by the creators of the original game, is explained in an interview with writer Christian Divine: "I'm very familiar with the Pacific Northwest (...). I go up to Oregon, Portland, and Seattle all the time. I'm there all the time, and as a Northern California boy, the word hella is probably one of the most indigenous expressions you'll hear. It's been around forever and ever, and around 2013 I noticed that young people around me were saying it again. It was so funny, like wow, people are saying hella again. I haven't heard that in a while." According to this statement, the word "hella" simply is a slang word that American writer Christian Divine was familiar with being used all over the Pacific Northwest -- particularly Seattle, Portland and Northern California -- and he wrote it into Chloe's dialogue because he thought it is something a teenager growing up in Oregon would say. This is backed up by the Wikipedia article about the word "hella", which explains that the word has been a common slang term, particularly in Seattle and Portland, Oregon. Moreover, Rachel mentions that the word is a "Cali(fornia) thing", when in fact, it is a Northern "California thing". While the word is quite often used in Northern California, it is rarely used in Southern California. Because Rachel is from Southern California, it makes little sense for Chloe, a native to Arcadia Bay (which is near Portland, Oregon according to the game's dialogue), to learn the word from her. However, while Rachel was definitely born in Southern California, we can't be sure she didn't move to a Northern part of California during her childhood. 'Minor' Pirate's Hat and Eye Patch The pirate hat and eye patch both seen in Chloe's room (on top of her mirror) don't match the shapes of the ones shown in the picture from Life is Strange: Season 1 with Chloe and Max Caulfield disguised as pirates. This is a pretty obvious inconsistency since the same picture is also seen in Before the Storm (in the Prices' living room). *A possible explanation for this could be artistic license (i.e. a slight difference in the visual style in Before the Storm). Price Family Photo In Episode 1 of Before the Storm, Chloe has the option to look at an old photo frame discoloration on the dining room wall of her house, and says, "Family pic used to hang here. I-- Wow... I can't actually remember which one." In Life is Strange: Season 1, when Chloe is 14, there is a family photo hanging in this general area that has square dimensions, but in Before the Storm, the interactive text displays the discoloration as "discolored square" when it is clearly rectangular. For visual consistency, it should be called "discolored rectangle", or to be consistent with the original game, the discoloration should be square. When Chloe goes into the garage on David's request, she comments on the framed picture (showing Joyce and William having fun with food) being the picture Joyce removed from the living room. While it clearly wasn't this one as shown above. However, it makes the discolored rectangle more logical. bts-family-photo.PNG photogarage.png Max Contacting Chloe In Life is Strange: Season 1's Episode 1, "Chrysalis", Chloe angrily says to Max: "You were happy to wait five years without a call, or even a text." In Before the Storm's Episode 1, "Awake", Chloe's phone clearly shows that Max has been texting her during her time in Seattle and had even initiated text messaging after admitting to being "bad about emailing". Max has texted Chloe on the following dates in November 2009: 2nd, 13th, and 28th. * A possible explanation for this could be that Chloe is exaggerating the passage of time in her anger, but if this is the case, it seems odd that one of Max's responses wasn't to call her out on the exaggeration. Chloe's Phone In Before the Storm's Episode 1, "Awake", we see Chloe using the same phone that she had decorated with Max two or more years ago (as seen in Life is Strange: Season 1's Episode 3 if Max had opened one of Chloe's bedroom drawers). However, there are differences with the decorations on these phones, as well as the general wear and tear and scratches.There is an additional texture for cracked screen glass in the Before the Storm game files that the artist would have applied to the phone texture. The phone in Before the Storm has more scratches and wear in a place where it is absent on the phone as we see it in 2013; it also has the addition of a big camera lens on the front with an overlapping sticker. Other stickers on the phone seen in "Chaos Theory" are missing in Before the Storm, such as the sticker of the "chicken" on a red circular background that we also see Max wearing on a couple of her T-shirts in Season 1. The sticker that looks like two Furbies or owls is a misinterpretation of the actual sticker in Season 1. phone-comparison.png|Comparison of the two phones phone-sticker.png|The misinterpreted sticker Captain Chloe Bluebeard When looking at the towel in the bathroom of her house, Chloe says: "The preferred towel of Captain Bluebeard, Scourge of Arrrr-cadia Bay." In the dining room downstairs, Chloe can read the back of a photo of her and Max dressed as pirates. It reads: Captain Chloe Bluebeard, Scourge of Arcadia, and her first mate Long Max Silver. Chloe also signs her journal with "Captain Chloe Bluebeard, Scourge of Arcadia Bay". This nickname is very likely to have been something Max would have known too, given their love of playing pirates together. However, in Life is Strange: Season 1, after Max found the five bottles in the junkyard, she said: "Now I can deliver this bottle booty to Captain Chloe". Given the fact that she used the pirate lingo, she would have likely said "Captain Chloe Bluebeard" instead of just "Captain Chloe" if this was the pirate nickname Chloe went by. Notes References Category:Before the Storm Category:Special Content Category:Special Content (Before the Storm)